The present invention relates to anesthesia masks and more particularly relates to a disposable cover for use in association with such masks.
For years the medical profession has been using compliant masks for administering gaseous anesthesia to patients. Such masks are generally formed of a relatively rigid rubber and have cushioned edges about the periphery thereof for both the purpose of patient comfort and the purpose of insuring that the mask may be compliantly pressed against the nose and mouth area of a patient with airtight contact.
Such masks adequately perform the intended function; however, they may become a source of contamination and cause the transmission of an infection of one patient to another patient who subsequently uses the mask.
The existing anesthesia masks are very costly and because of the great number of masks required to accommodate the many patients treated in today's hospitals, the use of these masks becomes a relatively significant expense to hospitals which remove a mask after it's been used for cleaning and disinfecting.
However, these masks tend to deteriorate after repeated cleaning with special solutions or with gas sterilization materials.
Furthermore, the time and cost of labor for such cleaning and sterilization processes are factors which hospitals would like to eliminate if it were possible to do so safely.
As a result of the problems presented by such existing masks, disposable anesthesia masks have been provided to eliminate the necessity for cleaning and sterilization, for the patient who is known to have a contagious disease. However, such disposable masks tend to be too expensive for one-time use, are difficult to use during a long operative procedure and typically will not properly fit over a patient's face.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a device which permits the use of the existing anesthesia mask which does properly fit on a patient's face and which may be used for any operative procedure while eliminating the contamination and infection transmission problems associated therewith.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a device which permits the anesthesiologist to leave the anesthesia mask connected to the anesthesia apparatus after use so that only a disposable mask cover need be removed and a new cover put in place.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a disposable anesthesia mask cover which would result in economic savings to a hospital while eliminating the transmission of infectious material.
At least some of the above-cited objects are achieved by the provision of a composite anesthesia mask cover having a relatively rigid central portion generally shaped in the form of the inside surface of an anesthesia mask and surrounded by a pliable portion for covering the cushioned periphery of the mask. The outermost periphery of the pliable portion may be provided with an elastomeric device for snuggly holding the pliable portion of the cover over the mask while the relatively rigid portion is held within the mask by means of a cylindrical projection which frictionally engages and is thereby held within the gas inlet of the mask.